The Catholic Church has not ever been silent about its non-love affair with Harry Potter & Company. Concerns about the series creating witch-loving children abound. But to say that J.K. Rowling’s beloved series, which has the world’s children reading like never before in recent memory, is satanic? According to Linda Morris, reporting for “The Age” about recent Vatican commentary regarding Mr. Potter, the Vatican’s official exorcist did just that:

The Vatican has never been a fan of Harry Potter, but its chief exorcist has gone one step further and condemned J. K. Rowling’s fictional boy wizard as downright evil.

“Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil,” Father Gabriele Amorth, the Pope’s “caster-out of demons,” said.

The “Potter” books contain many positive references to the satanic arts, falsely drawing a distinction between black and white magic, Father Amorth told the Daily Mail in London. He also said he was convinced that Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler were possessed by the devil.